La posible aportación de Tomás de Aquino a un humanismo contemporáneo

Abstract

The conventional meaning of “humanism” – stressing language and rhetoric against reason and logic, art against philosophy, or practical philosophy against natural philosophy –, does not fit very well with Aquinas’ metaphysical thought, to the point that we could hesitate in calling him a “humanist”. Besides, following Kant’s distinction between logical, aesthetic and practical determination of one’s horizon of cognitions, humanist thought would fall under the last two determinations, whereas Aquinas’ thought would rather fall under the logical determination of cognitions. And yet, Aquinas’s work certainly contains several valuable insights, able to inspire a contemporary Christian humanism. The way to relate his theological and metaphysical insights to a humanist discourse centered in practical issues might go through Aristotle’s notion of practical truth.